Dear Delegates,
The University is honoured to host this conference on Raising Awareness for Prison Reform, organised in partnership with the Prison Reform Trust, and I extend to you all a very warm welcome to Buckinghamshire New University (BNU).
This important conference brings together a diverse and committed community of experts, practitioners, academics, and advocates who share a common goal: driving positive change within our criminal justice and prison systems.
You will hear from speakers who will offer diverse perspectives on prison reform, rehabilitation, and the role of institutional research in driving systemic change.
At BNU, we recognise the vital role that research, evaluation, and evidence-based policy play in transforming society, and we are proud to support this mission through our own work in education and social justice.
Just as in higher education, where we strive to support students through their educational journey, it is our view that people in custody should be provided with the tools, education, and support needed to succeed beyond the prison walls. Today’s conference provides opportunities for discussion around how stakeholders and policies can best offer pathways to rehabilitation, reintegration, and meaningful contributions to society.
We hope that this conference will serve as a catalyst for fresh ideas, informed debate, and new collaborations that drive real progress in the prison reform movement.
Thank you for joining us, and I wish you a productive and inspiring conference.
Best wishes,
Professor Nick Braisby Vice-Chancellor, Buckinghamshire New University
Keynote Speakers
Dr Nicola Mallowan
Dr Nicola Mallowan is a Chartered Psychologist, an Associate Fellow with the British Psychological Society, and is the CPD lead for the BPS Division of Forensic Psychology committee. At Buckinghamshire New University, she is a senior lecturer in Forensic Psychology; course lead for the undergraduate Forensic Psychology degree and interim course lead for the Masters in Applied Forensic Psychology. She is group lead for the drug and alcohol research committee, who are currently writing BNU’s drug and alcohol harm reduction policy. As a practitioner, Nicola previously worked as a substance misuse probation services officer with the National Probation Service, and as a group facilitator with the charity organisation Turning Point.
Katrina Heath
Katrina Heath is a Lecturer at Bucks New University, where she has been teaching on the Forensic Psychology, Psychology and Criminology undergraduate and postgraduate programmes for over 7 years. She is the Course Lead for the Psychology and Criminology programme. She holds two BPS-accredited postgraduate qualifications in Psychology and Forensic Psychology and Crime and is a Member of the British Psychological Society. Katrina is a doctoral student at BNU focusing on stalking and cyberstalking, part of which involves working with a local charity dealing with victims of stalking, domestic violence and sexual violence. Her other specialist areas of interest and research are Art Therapy, Substance Misuse, and Genocide. Her postgraduate research at BNU focused on the psychology of experiential therapies within substance misuse treatment which led to work with the Oasis Partnership, delivering art therapy to substance misusers and acquired brain injury clients.
Pia Sinha
Pia Sinha joined the Prison Service in 1999 as a Higher Psychologist at HMP & YOI Holloway. After joining HMP Wandsworth as a Senior Psychologist, she took up the post of Head of Safer Prisons, followed by Head of Reducing Re-offending at HMP Wormwood Scrubs. She then took up her first Deputy Governor role at HMP Send, and subsequently Downview and Liverpool. In 2013 Pia was appointed to her first Governing role at HMP & YOI Thorn Cross, going on to govern at both Risley and Liverpool. In 2020 she became Acting Deputy Director Probation Reform Programme, then the Workforce Programme, before becoming Director of Women in November 2021. Pia’s vision for the Women’s Directorate was to enable safe, compassionate and individualised care for women. In April 2023 Pia became the CEO of the Prison Reform Trust.
Toseef Khan
Toseef Khan joined HMPPS as the National Lived Experience Lead, working alongside Tassie Ghilani within the Rehabilitation Directorate, aligning with MOJ and HMPPS commitments to increase employment opportunities for people with lived experience. His role involves creating opportunities and roles for individuals with lived experience, supporting the workforce, embedding their perspectives across the organisation, and training frontline staff on effective engagement. Toseef also founded a social organisation advocating for those with lived experience, partnering with external agencies to support prison leavers and address their rehabilitative needs. Additionally, he has contributed to policy development and operational improvements, focusing on tackling Serious and Organised Crime.
Tassie Ghilani
Tassie Ghilani is a dedicated professional with over seven years of experience driving systemic change within the criminal justice system. She has worked across government to improve outcomes for care leavers, women, young adults, and individuals in the criminal justice system. With expertise across various government departments and the private sector, alongside her personal experience, she is committed to reducing reoffending and supporting people in custody and on probation. Currently, as the National Lived Experience Lead within HMPPS, Tassie champions an organisational approach to lived experience, challenging perceptions of those with criminal justice backgrounds. Her own experience of the care and justice systems provides her with unique insight and passion for reform. She also delivers guest lectures on criminal justice reform at universities.
Carl Mumford
Carl Mumford is a Criminal Justice Neurodiversity Consultant at Creased Puddle and a former police officer. Diagnosed with ADHD at 31, he uses his personal experience to advocate for change within the criminal justice system, with a particular focus on preventing the school-to-prison pipeline through education and raising awareness of neurodiversity.
Creased Puddle Ltd is a UK-based training and consultancy company specialising in neurodiversity and the criminal justice sector. Employing a predominantly neurodivergent workforce, their core services help policing and prisons understand and implement neuroinclusive practices through a multidisciplinary approach.
Nominated for the National Cyber Award by the NPCC for their training, they are also suppliers to the V500 and are recognised by CJS leaders as experts in neurodiversity and its application in everyday operational practices. We are committed to improving the understanding of neurodiversity within the criminal justice system, leading to more positive outcomes for people in prison.
David Breakspear
David Breakspear has extensive experience of the justice system. One that began in 1980, at the age of ten with his first arrest, and subsequent caution. David was permanently excluded from school at 14 and received his first custodial sentence at 15. His journey through ‘the school to prison pipeline’ included a remand home, detention centres, youth custody centres, and a number of prisons. He was released from his last prison sentence on June 9, 2017, and has lived crime free ever since. David now dedicates his time using his lived experience to influence much needed change in the criminal justice system.
Caroline Cook
Caroline is a member of the Lived Experience Team at Revolving Doors. She is passionate about using her personal experiences to drive positive change within the criminal justice system. For many years, she found herself caught in the revolving doors of crisis and crime, due to unmet mental health needs. This struggle led to substance misuse as a coping mechanism, causing offending to escalate. Ultimately, she lost everything, her home and children. This resulted in being remanded in prison, having hit rock bottom.
Today, she is proud to say that she has turned her life around. As a dedicated advocate for mental health awareness and support, she draws from her own recovery journey, including the Mental Health Treatment Requirement (MHTR) she received upon release from prison. This treatment was a crucial turning point, providing support so desperately needed.
Now, Caroline aims to inspire others by showing that change is possible and that others can rebuild their lives. She believes in the power of hope and resilience, and is committed to helping those facing similar challenges, find their path to recovery – It's never too late to turn your life around.
Dr Sarah Lewis
Dr. Sarah Lewis is a penal reformer and the Director of Penal Reform Solutions and Grow Transform Belong CIC. With over 19 years of experience working in the Criminal Justice System, Dr. Lewis has pioneered innovative approaches to cultural change in correctional settings nationally and internationally. She has developed the Growth Project, a transformative initiative aimed at creating rehabilitative environments that foster personal and institutional growth. Her expertise in relational practice, co-production, and systemic reform continues to drive impactful changes across the sector. She is passionate about collaboration, positive change and creating an effective rehabilitative solution that serves communities, which is person-centred.
David Adlington-Rivers
David Adlington-Rivers is an aspiring Forensic Hope Psychologist, and an Associate Lecturer at Bucks New University, where he has been teaching Forensic Psychology, Criminology, and Forensic Science for over two years.
He holds two BPS-accredited degrees in Forensic Psychology and is a Full Member of the British Psychological Society. Currently, David is a Doctoral Researcher at Durham University, focusing on the role of hope and desistance for people released from prison, under the supervision of Professor Graham Towl (former Chief Psychologist – Ministry of Justice) and Professor Tammi Walker (Member of Ministry of Justice Women in Criminal Justice System Expert Group and His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation and Prisons Expert Reference Group).
David has authored a self-help book titled ‘Freedom is in the Mind’, aimed at instilling hope in people who are in prison. His work extends to writing insightful articles for the Probation Institute and the Prison Service Journal, and has presented his hope research at a conference at KU Leuven in Belgium, contributing significantly to the field of rehabilitation and prison reform. He is connected to a number of influential academics in the field of hope psychology.
Marc Conway
Marc Conway has over 30 years of experience of the Criminal Justice System from both sides of the fence. After 5 years of working at the Prison Reform Trust he is now CEO at Fair Justice and is also Managing Director at a new CIC incitive called Empowering Experts by Experience (EEE). Marc is a person who is under the IPP system and campaigns for reform within this field. He is an advocate for the lived experience voice to be included in all discussions where they are normally excluded.
“No policy is worth the paper it is written on if it doesn't hear the voices of those governed by that policy.”
Dwaine Patterson
As a dedicated public speaker, Dwaine is passionate about shedding light on the profound impact of long-term imprisonment on both families and serving prisoners. His expertise lies in dissecting organisational culture within correctional facilities, emphasising the transformative power of a positive staff culture in reducing violence and ensuring safe regimes within prisons. Dwaine firmly believes in the importance of social exchange among individuals, even within the challenging confines of prison. His talks explore the fundamental need to create dignified spaces within correctional institutions, fostering an environment where individuals can rebuild their lives and find hope.
His presentations delve into overcoming barriers and cultivating resilience in the face of adversity. He highlights how these essential life skills are not limited to the prison environment but are transferable to broader societal contexts, ultimately empowering individuals to achieve success, no matter the obstacles they encounter.
In the depths of isolation, he explores the inner reserves that enable individuals to maintain hope. These invaluable qualities transcend the prison experience and can serve as a source of inspiration for people from all walks of life, empowering them to overcome challenges and achieve their goals.
Gethin Jones
Gethin’s story was 36 years in the making and he has lived a life that most could not imagine and many don't come back from. Gethin grew up in the care system, spent a total of 8 years in Prison, was an intravenous heroin user and was trapped in a way of thinking and acting that condemned him to either more years in Prison or an early death.
Today Gethin Jones has a company called Unlocking Potential and he works within prisons, probation, local authorities and charities in the UK, Australia and America. Gethin delivers his services through keynote talks, workshops, training, eLearning, and consultancy packages.
Within the session Gethin will be sharing what moving on looks like for people leaving Prison. Gethin will also share about the continuous moving on that also happens as individuals create and develop new identities and increase their social capital.
PRT accepts no government funding and is entirely reliant on voluntary donations to continue delivering our vital work. Every donation, large or small, contributes to our mission to create a just, humane and effective prison system.
Please follow the QR code to help make this vision a reality.
THANK YOU.
Liberty Kitchen is an award winning (Best in UK) street food social enterprise/charity based in Pentonville Prison where it runs a programme designed to cut reoffending, promote rehabilitation and see the reintegration of men who have gained invaluable culinary, business and life skills. It works with teams inside and out of prison to help create a chance for change.
As part of the project the men come up with their own original ideas for Street Balls - meat, fish and vegan balls - accompanied by sides and sauces which are sold at street food markets or events where they are prepared and served by prison leavers. So far, it has trained and provided business qualifications to 135+ men in prison and provided employment for over 40 in the community. If you would like to know more, check out www.libertykitchen.org or contact janet@libertykitchen.org
Thank you for attending the Conference on Raising Awareness for Prison Reform, organised in partnership with the Prison Reform Trust.
We are truly grateful for your presence and participation in this year’s event.
High Wycombe Campus
Queen Alexandra Road
High Wycombe
Buckinghamshire
HP11 2JZ
Aylesbury Campus
59 Walton Street
Aylesbury
Buckinghamshire
HP21 7QG
Uxbridge Campus
106 Oxford Road
Uxbridge
Middlesex
UB8 1NA
Telephone: 01494 522 141
Email: advice@bnu.ac.uk
This
BNU based at Pinewood Studios
Pinewood Studios
Pinewood Road
Iver Heath
Buckinghamshire
SL0 0NH
Missenden Abbey
London Road
Great Missenden
Buckinghamshire
HP16 0BD
